An effects pedal is an electronic device which adds a sonic effect to the audio signal of an electronic instrument. The pedal is turned on or off using a footswitch and is very useful for on-the-fly activation. Due to the foot-based operation of such pedals, they are also sometimes referred to as stomp boxes. Some typical electronic instruments that are compatible with effects pedals include electric guitar/bass, keyboard/synthesizer, lapsteel, resonator and organ.
Typically, the instrument would be plugged into the pedals in series using ¼″ audio cables, then from the pedals into an amplifier, PA system or soundcard, though the placement of an effects pedal in the overall audio path can vary from this particular example. Pedals can vary in size, though the size of a typical pedal might average around 110 mm long×55 mm wide×40 mm high. Some of the standard effects these pedals produce would be chorus, flange, delay, overdrive, distortion, tremolo and vibrato.
In the instance of a musician with a collection of multiple pedals, particularly in the case of a recording or gigging musician who has a need to transport the pedals between venues, studios, home, practice space, etc., it is commonplace to mount the pedals to a pedalboard that can be carried from place to place and simply seated on the ground, floor, stage etc. for foot based operation of the pedals, or placed atop a table for hand-based control over the pedals. The pedals the musician likes and uses enough to warrant inclusion in their standard equipment setup are kept and fastened to the pedalboard. Others that are used less often or are not to the musician's liking may be stored separately of the pedalboard, or sold or traded.
For many musicians, the pedalboard content is an ever-changing and evolving component of their equipment setup. In many cases, it is never 100% complete. There can almost always be something to change within the content of the pedalboard, whether it's the addition or removal of a pedal, or just re-organization of where the pedals are placed relative to one another in the pedalboard layout. Accordingly, the quantity, type or layout of pedals in a pedalboard setup my vary over time, and so there is a need for pedalboard designs that can expand to accommodate a growing pedal collection, or collapse for improved portability in the event the pedal count is reduced. This way, the device can adapt to the musician's ever changing needs.
Prior solutions in this field have included modular pedalboard systems where individual units of a fixed size can be interconnected to collectively form a larger overall pedalboard assembly. One such example is a modular product marketed under the name Stompblox. One shortcoming of prior modular designs is the limited step-wise manner in which the overall pedalboard structure is adjustable in size, as the incremental increase or decrease in size is fixed according to the static size of each individual module.
A more recent product marketed as the HoleyBoard Dragonfly provides more flexibility, than prior module solutions, by providing two foot supported panels having multiple sets of fastening holes. The user can choose from among predetermined amounts of overlap between the panels to determine the overall pedalboard area collectively provided by the two panels. Using overlapping panels as the individual modules gives the user more flexibility in terms of size selectability. However, the selectable sizes are still limited according to the factory determined positioning of the selectable fastening sites on the two panels, thereby dictating the different degrees of panel overlap selectable by the user.
Accordingly, there remains room for alternatives and improvements in the field of expandable collapsible pedalboards.